The following statements cover important aspects of UTC’s expectations for faculty members’ administration of their classes, including their relationships with students in the classroom and related interactions, as well as its general philosophy governing the rights and responsibilities of students in the classroom and related interactions with faculty members.^[1]

2.11.1. Student Standards of Conduct

The UTC Student Handbook – Student Rights & Responsibilities, published annually, contains statements concerning standards of conduct which students are expected to maintain and disciplinary procedures which may be used when unacceptable student behavior occurs. Faculty members are expected to encourage acceptable conduct on the part of students. In specific cases of student misconduct, faculty should consult with the Division of Student Development or the Division of Academic Affairs for guidance on how to appropriately address the misconduct.

2.11.2. Faculty Office Hours

For more information regarding student rights and responsibilities, please see UTC Student Handbook – Student Rights & Responsibilities.

Faculty members are expected to maintain office hours so that they may be available to students and other members of the UTC community at stated places and times. Office hours should be clearly posted in a manner that is accessible to students.

2.11.3. Textbooks and Course Materials

Unless departmental approval is given, an instructor may not require students to purchase the instructor’s own textbook for the courses the instructor teaches. Each department is responsible for adopting and enforcing appropriate guidelines concerning textbook choices within the department. Additionally, any duplication and distribution of instructional materials must comply with UT Policy FI0155 – Duplication and Distribution of Instructional Materials and federal copyright statutes.

2.11.4. Meeting Scheduled Classes

Faculty members should meet their classes as scheduled; in the event faculty members are unable to meet class, it is their responsibility to notify the department head and arrange for a qualified replacement to conduct the class. Individual faculty members may not dismiss their classes without official authorization from their department head. Any decision to dismiss all university classes must be made by the Chancellor, or if absent, by an individual designated by the Chancellor.

2.11.5. Freedom of Expression

Free and pertinent discussion is welcome at UTC. Students should feel free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study and to reserve judgment about matters of opinion. Students are responsible, however, for learning the content of any course of study for which they are enrolled.

2.11.6. Academic Evaluation

Faculty are expected to evaluate student performance honestly and professionally, based solely on academic considerations and not on opinions or conduct in matters unrelated to academic standards. Students are responsible for meeting the academic standards and requirements of each course in which they are enrolled. In order to make clear to students the basis for academic evaluation, faculty members normally should satisfy the following general guidelines: a) provide written course objectives, criteria and methods of student evaluation to the students near the beginning of each course; b) provide a written make-up examination policy near the beginning of each course; c) return graded exercises to the student promptly; d) provide a mid-term grade in writing to students by the middle of the semester or term at the latest; e) make themselves reasonably available to students for conferences and make reasonable efforts to assist students who are having difficulty in their courses. However, the burden of taking advantage of such opportunities falls on the student. A student alleging unfair evaluation may appeal pursuant to the applicable grade appeal procedure referenced under Section 2.11.16. below.

2.11.7. Academic Integrity

UTC expects that all academic work will provide an honest reflection of the knowledge and abilities of both students and faculty. Cheating, plagiarism, fabrication of data, providing unauthorized help and other acts of academic dishonesty are abhorrent to the purposes for which the UTC exists.

1. UTC Honor Code

The Honor Code is designed to foster a campus-wide climate of honesty and integrity in order to insure that students derive the maximum benefit from their work at UTC. All students are subject to the rules and regulations of the UTC Honor Code upon registration at UTC. Faculty members have a general responsibility to make students aware that the Honor Code governs all of their academic work at UTC. Faculty members should stress that, although the Honor Code applies only to student work, the principles which it embodies, especially the principle of giving proper credit for another’s ideas, are binding upon all members of the academic community. The Honor Code places responsibility for maintaining academic honesty on the student, but faculty are free to supervise examinations and other graded work in whatever way deemed appropriate.

The rules and regulations governing the UTC Honor Code and the procedures and disciplinary measures for addressing violations of the Honor Code are provided under the Tennessee Rules and Regulations for the UTC Honor System (Tenn. Comp. R & Regs. § 1720-02-01-.01 et seq.) and can also be found in the UTC Honor Code Handbook.

(1) Reporting Honor Code Violations

Either through their own observation, reports from students, or other means, faculty members may confront suspected violations of the Honor Code. The faculty member must make a preliminary judgment about the seriousness of the incident and judge whether it is a possible violation of the Honor Code. If the incident appears to be a violation of the Honor Code, the faculty member must then decide whether the seriousness of the incident and the evidence are sufficient to justify a formal report to the Office of Student Conduct. Formal reports of suspected Honor Code violations should be submitted to the Office of Student Conduct.

Faculty members are strongly encouraged to report suspected violations of the Honor Code to the Office of Student Conduct. The Office of Student Conduct (or designee) is empowered, through the Honor Code Process, to impose penalties more severe than those which an individual faculty member can impose. Only through the process of reporting suspected violations will it be possible to identify and deal with students whose academic work is habitually dishonest. If a faculty member chooses not to formally report an Honor Code violation to the Office of Student Conduct, the faculty member is not permitted to penalize the students involved without the students’ knowledge and consent.

(2) Resolution of Honor Code Violations

A student accused of an Honor Code violation is guaranteed the right to a hearing to contest the accusation before either: (1) an Honor Code Officer, (2) the Honor Code Board^[2] or (2) an Administrative Judge in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”) (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 4-5-101 et seq.).^[3] The faculty member who reports the Honor Code violation (“faculty member reporter”) and other faculty members who are necessary witnesses will be requested to appear at the hearing. If appearing and called upon to testify at the hearing, the faculty member reporter should present a clear and impartial account of the incident in question and present to the decision-maker (i.e., Honor Code Officer, Honor Code Board, or APA Administrative Judge) any relevant evidence, especially written evidence, at the faculty member’s disposal.

Where a faculty member reporter who is willing to appear at an Honor Code Officer or Honor Code Board hearing but has provided adequate prior notice of a reasonable excuse for not being able to appear at the hearing, the Honor Code Officer or Honor Code Board has the discretion to hold the hearing in the faculty member reporter’s absence if it reasonably concludes that a delay in holding the hearing may result in undue harm to the accused student.

2. Employee Academic Misconduct

UTC’s Policy on Employee Academic Misconduct Involving Students prohibits all UTC faculty and staff employees from engaging in academic misconduct in student academic matters. Prohibited academic misconduct under the policy includes academic fraud relating to a student (e.g., falsifying a student’s transcript); authorizing, enabling or assisting violations of the Honor Code by a student; and providing impermissible academic assistance to a student.

2.11.8. Students with Disabilities

Under certain circumstances, UTC is obligated, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to make reasonable accommodations to provide qualified students with disabilities the opportunity for full participation in academic programs and activities. Reasonable accommodation may include increasing physical accessibility, modifying teaching/testing practices, acquiring equipment/devices, course substitution,^[4] and/or providing qualified readers or interpreters. Faculty who have students with disabilities in their classes are expected to be sensitive to the special needs of those persons. The UTC Disability Resource Center should be contacted for information regarding possible reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities.

2.11.9. Make-Up Examination Policy

Students are responsible for meeting all course requirements, including graded exercises which are administered in class. Along with other course requirements, policies covering make-ups for graded exercises normally are announced at the beginning of the course. In the event of an impasse between the instructor and the student over the questions of make-up, the student may appeal to the department head, director or program coordinator.

2.11.10. Final Exams

Final examinations are to be given at the scheduled time during final exam week. If an emergency should arise, or if there are scheduling difficulties, the faculty member should consult with his or her dean.

2.11.11. Attendance Policy and Excuses

At the beginning of the semester, faculty members should state to their classes their policy on absences. It is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor when documented illness, family emergency, participation in a University activity, or other reasonable excuse prevents attendance.

When absences are occasioned by University projects, students should check with their instructors, informing them of the possibility of the event and the classes to be missed. If the instructor wishes written confirmation of the organized trip before granting an excuse, a list of the student’s classes along with the instructors’ names and dates of the trip should be submitted to the office of the appropriate dean. All excuse requests must be submitted at least three days before the event. This list should be signed by the faculty advisor of the organization, who certifies as to the accuracy of the information. The dean returns the approved list to the faculty advisor, who issues copies to the students.

Upon receipt of appropriate documentation, the instructor should accommodate the missed coursework and communicate with the student how the make-up work should be accomplished. Specific information on make-up exams and missed work should be clearly stated in course syllabi.

2.11.12. Academic Disputes

Complaints or grievances will arise occasionally in the faculty-student relationship and should be clarified at the earliest possible time and at the level closest to the locus of the complaint. Students who have such complaints are urged to address them directly to the faculty member in an appropriate setting. It is understood that some issues may need to be addressed to the nearest administrator, generally the department or program unit head. Every effort should be made to resolve such matters informally by conversation. A matter unresolved on the departmental level may be brought to the appropriate dean and, after that, the Provost.

2.11.13. Grade Change Policy

Changing of a semester grade, once it has been reported to the records office by the instructor, may be made only in cases of computational error, for removal of an incomplete, or in cases of academic dishonesty after the conclusion of the student conduct process. Students are not permitted to re-do work or do additional work (e.g., re-write a paper) after the end of the semester in order to receive a change of grade.

2.11.14. Course and/or Instructor Evaluation

Course and/or instructor evaluation by students is required by UTC. Such evaluations form one constituent of the overall evaluation of the faculty which includes, in addition, a self-evaluation, an evaluation by the department head, and an evaluation by the dean or other administrator.

2.11.15. Retention of Student Papers

A faculty member who chooses not to return papers to the student should keep graded exams and papers for a minimum of the next regular semester following the completion of a term, until the time period for filing a grade appeal has expired. In the event the faculty member goes on leave, papers should be kept until one semester after the faculty member’s return from leave.

2.11.16. Student Grade Appeals

It is the prerogative and responsibility of members of the faculty to determine the final grade for each student according to criteria clearly defined and explained in the course syllabus.

If a student feels that his or her rights and interests have been seriously jeopardized by way of unfair, arbitrary or malicious exercise of faculty grading prerogatives, and desire to appeal the final grade, the student may file a grade appeal pursuant to the applicable grade appeals procedures linked below.

1. Undergraduate Students

The grade appeal process for undergraduate students is set forth in the UTC Student Handbook – Academics.

2. Graduate Students

The grade appeal process for graduate students is set forth in the Catalog of Academic Policies for Graduate Students – Grade Appeal Section.